Do win-loss records matter in MMA?

fractal

fractal

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A lot of people judge fighters by their W/L records. But if you are a fan of the sport and of a fighter, you've most likely followed his career, even if not from the very beginning, and have a good idea of his ups and downs without having to look at this fight history.

So do you judge fighter careers by their record or by how they fought and who they fought?
 
It's generally how they fought and who they fought around here, unless dealing with Couture, BJ or Hunt.
 
As a fan it should mean jack shit and i find it pretty fucking gay that so many Shertards obsess over the W's and L's.

There is so much more that goes into a fighter's heart and history than can be extrapolated from a god damned public Wikipedia table.

As a promotion and in terms of rankings and match making, however, they don't really have this luxury although judging from the preferential treatment Gus has received, you would think the fanboys run Zuffa.

"He has the greatest losses in UFC history, bro."
 
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Anyone with an L on their record is a can.
 
common fans judge based on a "no Loss" record like RR or mayweather
the more discerning fan doesn't necessarily do this

BJ has a lot of fans because he was willing to fight bigger guys he might loose to

GSP might loose some of his rabid following if he were to come back and loose a fight

guys like Mark Hunt are close to 50/50 but people love to watch them fight regardless
 
boxing is what has fucked most peoples perception of what records mean and what they should mean. i give it another 20 years at least before the notion of a near clean record means your are a top fighter.
 
Of course it matters, it has to matter.

If a great fighter have lots of losses in his record, something is clearly wrong.


Now I'm not saying I become a fan of fighters based on W/L records, I'm saying it matters when judging a fighter. How can you deny that ?

You should judge a fighter based on wins,losses,opponents,stylistic match ups,personal lives,etc...pretty much everything related to his career. So yes,records too.
 
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recent W/L is important

early fights tend to lose meaning
 
It does matter, some people might say otherwise but it does.
It just matters less in MMA.

Obviously context is critical, if you're 15-3 in your prime but then overstay your welcome past your prime and end up around 17-8 then yeah thats great, but if you're Artem Lobov...then no..your record or "heart" doesn't deter the fact that you probably suck.
 
Most casuals just look up W/L and post like they know wtf they are on about
 
I doesn't matter at all. I barely even pay attention to it. What matters is last 5 fights maybe.

But I do believe there are examples where it matters, perception of Khabib would be somewhat different had he lost irrelevant fight early in his career. He's known by many just for having a perfect record.
 
Newer fans usually give more emphasis on records, and if they see the guy had a good wining streak sometime in the past but they don't know the names of the guys that fighter beat they are automatically considered cans by them.

Or in the case of Fedor or Shogun, they know some of the names of the guys they beat, but nowadays those guys are all past their prime, so the newer fans call Shogun and Fedor's wins overrated.
 
oh-yeah-gif-buffy-the-vampire.gif
 
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